Over the past 31 years, 49ers quarterbacks – from Joe Montana to Steve Young to Alex Smith – have earned their place in franchise postseason lore with famous last-second throws at Candlestick Park.

On Saturday, Colin Kaepernick etched a spot in 49ers’ playoff history with a run. And then another. And then – you guessed it – yet another.

In a 45-31 divisional-playoff win over the visiting Packers, Kaepernick repeatedly ran through Green Bay’s flailing defense and didn’t stop until he landed in the NFL record book. In his eighth career start, he had 183 yards on 16 carries and scored on touchdowns of 20 and 56 yards.

Running the semi-novel read option – clearly a part of the NFL’s future – Kaepernick accomplished what no other signal-caller had in the league’s past. His yardage total was the most by a quarterback in NFL history and he eclipsed the franchise single-game rushing record previously held by Roger Craig by 48 yards.

His series of sprints opened the floodgates for the offense. Frank Gore added 119 yards and a touchdown while the 49ers’ 581 total yards broke their previous postseason record of 505 set in Super Bowl XIX. Their point total also ranked third in the postseason history of a decorated franchise that won its 27th playoff game, the fourth-most in NFL playoff history.

Given the historic offensive explosion, it was easy to forget Kaepernick opened the game with an error.

On the game’s fourth offensive play, Kaepernick, the youngest starting quarterback to make his playoff debut in franchise history, appeared to show his inexperience. After his initial read, Michael Crabtree, fell down, he looked back across the field and floated a pass to tight end Vernon Davis.

Bad move. Packers cornerback Sam Shields darted in front and sprinted past Kaepernick down the right sideline for a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown.

What appeared to be a possible case of playoff stage fright, though, proved to be a wake-up call.

In the final 27 minutes and 48 seconds of the first half, Kaepernick accounted for three touchdowns and collected 107 rushing yards, which at that point was already the second-most by a quarterback in NFL playoff history.

When Kaepernick wasn’t running through Green Bay’s defense, which curiously didn’t have a player devoted to spy on him, he was connecting with go-to target Michael Crabtree. After a silent performance in last year’s playoffs, Crabtree (9 catches, 119 yards) had two touchdowns in the first half.

With San Francisco trailing 14-7, Kaepernick found Crabtree running free over the middle for a 12-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-goal. On the 49ers’ next possession, Kaepernick unleashed a 20-yard missile to well-covered Crabtree for a 21-14 lead.

At that point, Rodgers – who had managed two completions in his first seven attempts – briefly awoke.

On a six-play, 80-yard drive, he completed 3 of 3 passes for 45 yards. His final toss was a 20-yard dart between three defenders to wide receiver James Jones to tie the game at 21-21.

Rodgers, however, could never find the type of rhythm that’s made him the NFL’s top-rated passer for the past two seasons. He threw his first interception in 183 attempts in the first half on a badly overthrown heave that cornerback Tarell Brown corralled. Before he directed a late-game touchdown drive with Green Bay trailing 45-24, he had thrown for 194 yards, posted a 78.8 rating and directed the offense to 17 points.

With the game tied at 24-24 in the third quarter, Kaepernick gave the 49ers the lead for good with a 56-yard dash around right end on which he wasn’t touched. San Francisco’s next drive – an eight-play, 93-yard march – was highlighted by Kaepernick’s deftly placed 44-yard connection over the middle to Davis. Two plays later, Gore scored on a two-yard run and the 49ers led 38-24.

The 49ers will meet the winner of Sunday’s divisional-playoff game between the Falcons and visiting Seahawks. If Seattle wins, it would travel to Candlestick Park for the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 20. If Atlanta advances, it would host San Francisco.